Today's Word: The Great Outdoors

Well, today was neat.

I ventured out into with my classes to the wonderful natural areas around our school.

We are ina fortunate position....we have a marshland to the north of us and a farmers field along with a tree farm to the south. We are literally surrounded by nature! #score!

Our first trip was to a walking path with a densely wooded area south of us. Having to walk doen a strret, past a construction zone where new sidewalks are being built and a path that will one day be directly behind a row of houses.

Natural? Not for long.

But, that was dashed as soon as we ventured in and a rather large hoofprint and a canine print. Adeer and a coyote? Within the first 2 minutes of our exploration? AWESOME!

We saw loads of things, and for a group of kids where many admitted that they do NOT get to the great outdoors that often many were amazed!


In the afternoon class, we decided to go in the opposite direction....at first glance, a farmer's field was definitely not tha tappealing, but once we walked toward the dense treed area ...we were enthralled!

Frogs, bugs of any kind, numerous species of plants and trees all made this experience extremely invaluable as our classes dicovered the biotic and abiotic elements of ecosystems around our school.

We were mezmerized by what we saw! There was even a huge pond in the back that seemed to materialise out of nowhere!


It was our first foray into the ecosystems...they had lots to offer....

They were indeed the GREAT outdoors.

And that's the word.

Today's Word is...short.

Well, my plans tonight did not include writing a blog.

But, sometimes you have something that you just want to say.

I looked outside today at an absolutely glorious late summer day. The sun as out, the traffic was light....it felt like something out of a dream.

I came home to my beautiful family and savored the time with them....by sharing dinner, a few laughs and by just being with eachother in the moment.

I have to admit, that somewhere in the back of our mind is the significance of September 17. It may not seem like much, but last year...exactly to the day was a day where everything seemed....complete.

It was like a ride on a roller coaster where the ride finally came to a stop where we could all get off and just look back upon the arduous climb and out-of-control freefall. The Cockroaches perservered and came through....a little worse for wear, but we came through. To quote "Divulge With Dani" on her blog (http://divulgewithdani.blogspot.ca/2012/09/happy-anniversary-to-cockroaches.html)...we were SOLID (by the way...red her blog....a good read).

That night last year was simply amazing. I have never seen my wife let go of her emotions like she did as she finally felt like everything was in place. Dear friends. Together. Laughing, crying and simply savoring being with eachother in the moment.

It has been said "Don't let the moment pass you by"...and two weeks later, and to this day we know the meaning of those words.

Our SOLID group experienced shaky ground as we lost Wendy.

My family, and our dear friends lost their laughter, and our best friend lost his soul.

The pain we have all experienced since that day has been difficult, but there has been something that keeps us all going.

It happened again yesterday....with the appearance of a single, solitary ladybug in the space between my wife and I as we sat and talked.

It came out of nowhere and seeemed to just linger in the space, daring us to look at it.

Unable to hold back smiles, my wife and I simply stared and marvelled how ladybugs seem to pop up out of nowere, and at times that seem to be heaven sent. We truly feel that ladybugs are a reminder of our dear friend, and we always see evidence of these tiny little marvels when we are discussing or are reminded of Wendy. We even dared her on Saturday night to make an appearance as we noted to one year passing of her....and would'nt you know it....there it was.

An unbelieveable coincidence, yes, but the little thing reminds us of our dear friend and we smile.

I think about the family that I have and the joy that I share with them...everyday. Life is ours to enjoy....rejoice in eachother's company. Savor the moments that you have.....even if they are....

...short.

And that's the word.

Today's Word...ALREADY???

Well where did the time go?

I figured with the school year upon me, it is time to focus on my blog again....as a way to just ramble and to wnlighten others.

Needless to say that I have not posted anything in quite some time.

No, not from lack of topics, but for a whack of reasons. I always told myself that when September comes I will get back on board the Blogging train with countless other educators hoping to have meaningful dialogue with others.

I look at the time between this post and my last post ans say "Already"???

Now that I look into it, I realize there are so many things to blog about...I really would not know where to start. As pictures are worth a thousand words, I figre I should start with the Dinosaur Tour that I took at the beginning of July.

My next post will include the notest hat I took on the trip...it was a beautiful experience and I hope that the photos that I have included do it justice....

 Horseshoe Canyon...STUNNING

So..sit back, relax and enjoy the ramblings of myself and the things that make me say "wow".

I am ready to get back into the blogging circuit....I believe that it will be very relaxing.

Its hard to believe that I am ALREADY done this post.

Already.

And THAT'S the word.